Still not for me..I get immersed in the game more with smaller units..I can picture it more in my head I suppose..where as the big scenarios become more a puzzle than a wargame, if you get what I mean. Also I just get confused. Give me large tactical game I OK though. So really it's the operational aspect I find to daunting. As for PBEM..not for me at all..I hate being tied to a game and end up resenting it. Then afterwards I can't play against the AI is it would have become obvious what it's weaknesses are. So PBEM in the end ruins a game for me.

Your units need to be in range of their parent HQ, there are two ways to check this. One, if you click on the unit and go into the details tab you will see one bit of information which states 'HQ power', you want this to ideally be at 100% which shows the unit is in range of its HQ. The other way to check is to click on the HQ unit and all its subordinate units will then be highlighted. You will also see a green overlay on the map, this is the range of the HQ. At the edges of its range you will see other colours, which show that the units are on the edge of the HQ's range. Why is this important? Well go back to the details tab and look at the figures under the HQ power stat; depending on the strength of the HQ unit there will be a combat modifier - this can be quite high especially for some of the German HQ units.

The big number on each unit is to give an idea of the raw numbers left in the unit. It is combination of its infantry, tanks, guns, transport etc... I think the actual breakdown is somewhere in the manual, but although this number is important I'm always looking at things like readiness, experience, morale and integrity as mroe important factors in judging a units strength.

Seriously Bonners you are amazing. I cannot thank you enough.

I will post the next turn after I wake up. Been up since midnight, worked till 5:30. That way I can wake up with a clear head with all the awesome tips you've all given me.

We are told its snowing and raining heavily this round, thus, limited movements. Which is good since I can re-arrange (a little) my units based on suggestions given by you lovely people. But bad because I WANT TO ATTACK DEATH TO ALL COMMUNISTS..

Ahem.

So, we start with a very, very, very thorough examination of our map so move our units into the best position as possible to continue to push next turn.

By the way, here are the causalities so far

As a babby grognard I say this is great! I killed more than they killed me. But I know deep down inside I could have done better. There are many notes for me to write to german parents back home that due to the leadership of General Heyhellowhatsnew, their child died because he was ordered to attack up a hill with a wrench for the glory of the reich.

Anyway, back to the map. Lets start with out HQs and see how far they are from our front so they can maximize smashing for our units.

Since this is primarily no combat turn, I will just show you the movements I made:

In this image, You can see I moved the HQ units up and tried to reposition the units close to the link (namely the 389th) to prepare for their attack next turn (weather permitting)

Again, I move my HQ units closer to the link, as well as move my panzers closer to the bridgehead the 44th currently holds. You can also see that I reconed quite a bit this turn to see what is ahead. It only appears to be one line of defense which is great.

I plan on bombing Izium as instructed to get rid of their Soviet airforce next turn.

This last turn again shows me moving up the HQs and repositioning units to take the town next turn. I save my commander points so that they can use offensive cards next turn. I want to break the Soviets back on turn 5. I have had enough of them...

In fact:

From this picture, I might be able to do a pincer move that cuts off the soviets' front in the middle. That's a long term goal if all goes well. But it ends with the 60th and 44th to meet in the middle and high five each other.

This is the map at the end of my turn:

This is the map after the Soviets move:

They cut off my bridgehead on the 44th and breakthrough the line up north. Sigh

Goddammit why did they get good attacks during a SNOW AND RAINFALL TURN I will play another turn later today.

Oberst Heyhellowhatsnew is alone in his office cleaning his maschinenkarabiner, deep in thought and grief over the latest soviet counter-offensive. When suddenly, his second in command, Oberstleutnant Lily Sloane, bursts into his office.

Oberstleutnant Lily Sloane: You son of a bitch.

Oberst Heyhellowhatsnew: This really isn't the time!

Lily Sloane: Okay, I don't know jack about operational warfare, but everybody out there thinks that staying here and fighting The Soviets is suicide! They're just afraid to come in here in say it!

Heyhellowhatsnew: The crew is accustomed to following my orders.

Lily Sloane: They're probably accustomed to your orders making sense!

Heyhellowhatsnew: None of them understand The Soviets as I do! No one does. No one can.

Lily Sloane: What is that supposed to mean?

Heyhellowhatsnew: Six years ago, they captured me and took me into their "collective". I had their marxist documents implanted throughout my brain. I was linked to the hive mind Lenin. Every trace of individuality erased. I was one of them. So, you can imagine my dear that I have a somewhat unique perspective on The Soviets and I know how to fight them. Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do.

Lily Sloane: I am such an idiot. It's so simple. The Soviets hurt you, and now you're going to hurt them back.

Heyhellowhatsnew: In our training, we don't succumb to revenge. We ubermensch have a more evolved sensibility.

Lily Sloane: Bullshit! I saw the look on your face when you shot those Soviets in Chugulev. You were almost enjoying it!

Heyhellowhatsnew: How dare you?

Lily Sloane: Oh, come on, Oberst! You're not the first man to get a thrill from murdering someone! I see it all the time!

Heyhellowhatsnew: This is about saving the future of humanity from communism!

Lily Sloane: OBERST, CALL OFF THE DAMN OFFENSIVE!

Heyhellowhatsnew: NO! NOOOOOOOOO!! (smashes his Maschinenkarabiner into a glass case containing gold models of the panzer tanks) I will not sacrifice the 44th. We've made too many compromises already. Too many retreats. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate countries with communism and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn HE-AH! This far, no further! And I, will MAKE THEM PAY for what they've done!

Obviously i'm annoyed that the soviets were able to accomplish those two counteroffensives despite the terrible weather. The most important thing is to save the 44th.

But how?

I decide that breaking a line through their 248th is the best way to get the 44th out of trouble, or at least some support.

I start off with my fighters to attack the airfields of Balakleja.

I forget to screen the cap but there are no fighters to intercept me, I cause some casualties for the soviets.

Next we're going to arty the first 248th and then bomb them

Arty did good, now for the air pain

Nothing really. But now we are ready to attack.

For some reason, despite me moving two panzer divisions into the area, only one unit can attack. Great.

Luckily we win. Now onto the other 248th.

There are no arty units in the area, but we use our last bombers. Not a lot of damage.

I am going to go through my HQ units to play an offensive card. It is crucial we win this to free the 44th.

Again i'm annoyed that only the 44th can attack. I am very worried. Lets cross our fingers.

We lose. I'm too annoyed and forget the screen cap.

The other plan was to use the 113th to sweep around and save them. So.. lets try that

We win and now we must move units to occupy the hex

Unfortunately this is the furthest we can go. I can only pray the 44th survives just one more turn so we can save them.

I turn to the south to avenge my fallen brothers

We are going to destroy their 33rd.

The attack is successful and they retreat

Now its time for 335th unit to die

They do. And now the last 333rd unit over the town.

"For Frodo" (Frodo was a favorite soldier in the 44th)

We run out of AP. They still have the hex. Notice when i'm annoyed at losing I forget to take the screencap. Heh.

This is the South after some movement and an poorly thought out attack out of frustration at 333rd

Onto the north

I am going to attack the 169th.

The bombardment goes well.

Now onto the ground attack

SUCCCESS!

At this point i'm in gives no ****s mode. You can tell because i'm getting irritated and want to kill everything. I'm not thinking straight. Which is another reason why to just play one turn a day when you're just starting out.

I am going to attack the 244th

It's a draw. I'm playing sloppy and I know it. I could have played a card to have a better turn out. Grr. Everyone please learn from my stupid mistakes.

I get more aggressive. I want to attack the 2nd. I want revenge.

I make some more dumb attacks and this is what we end up with in the middle. I am done with the turn. I need to stop playing angry and frustrated.

This is the map at the end of my turn:

This is the map at the end of the Soviet turn:

The Soviets have countered my counter-offensive to their counter-offensive. Thats all for tonight. I need a breather. I'm too frustrated and angry at myself for being so dumb at this game.

As always, any tips, hints, strategies, angry messages, help is appreciated.

A couple of things I've noticed and have been there and bought the t-shirt.....never attack out of frustration. It is better to do nothing and build your strength up rather than just attack. Even if you do have good attacks are they necessarily in the right direction? With the Germans you have a very powerful cutting edge, but it is soon blunted.

Looking back over your screenshot, you over extended your 44th division too soon which left them vulnerable. Although the AI is not as good as a human opponent, in the shorter scenarios they can put up a good show and expose any weaknesses. You may struggle to get the 44th out now, it is difficult to tell without seeing the strength of your other units nearby.

Sometimes though you have to accept your hits and go on to the next stage. For future reference, with your initial attacks where you broke through with the 44th, sometimes it is better not to advance straight into the hex you have just won. Wait a turn, let the AI move more units back in and then you will be able to attack the reserves again on your turn and their entrenchment values will be lower. If you are going to advance into a hex then try to have either an entrenchment or defensive card available to play on your advancing units to guard against the counter attacks.

Couple of other things I've noticed, I see that you dont think your airforce are doing that good a job. The airforce's role is not necessarily to cause casualties, but to reduce entrenchment of the opposing units which makes your attack easier, or to disrupt them before they counter attack. With this game you need to get used to looking at all the values of the units, not just the raw numbers.

These are all lessons I have really learnt the hard way losing PBEM battles against more experienced opponents. I'll try and find a post of Isokron's which was one that very simply explained how to attack and hold an areas over a couple of turns.

Found it, this is Isokron (who is an expert player) summing up very simply the best way to attack for the Germans, his advice is well worth reading:

quote:

In general I would say the key to succesful attacks are good artillery (and if possible air) prep attacks. I havent really gotten into a well entrenched river crossing with enemy reserves behind kind of situation in any of my games but I think what I would try to do would be something like.

1: Hit a hex with a full artillery stack and drive it back, if you have enough artillery to do several of these attacks then do it. 2: Do not advance into the taken hexes. 3: If the opponent moves back forces into the taken hex then good you now have a low entrenchment target with less than optimal readiness, hit it. 4: If not repeat on a neighbouring hex, you now have to consecutive hexes you can move into on his side of the river, if you dont feel that this will be enough repeat from step 2

This might take a few turns but you should be able to inflict 4:1 or so losses on him which he cant sustain in the long run. A soviet rifle division will only be able to take one or two defeats like this before starting to break unless it has a lot of turns to bring back its morale and get reinforcements in between the attacks.

Edit: Oh and dont attack into non open hexes, there is almost always a better alternative.

Level bombers are for infantry and other soft targets. Aka these guys, their icons are KG:

What do StG, SchG, JG, and KG stand for? Don't ask me, i'm an American, I was taught that only the US beat the Nazis! And we did in the battle of Pearl Harbor too!

Anyway, since this is an important mission, we'll have fighter escort our level bombers, aka KGs (Do wait I do, use mnemonics.. KG stands for Kill Guys, because thats what they do, get it?!) and JGs (Jumping Grapes... I couldn't think of anything better).

Lets hope this works

So it kinda did? Maybe? There is an airfield somewhere I don't know where but as soon as I find it I am going to make it into a crater.

These jerks still have a high level of entrenchment so i'm going to arty them too. I hope all artillery is the same unlike planes. I mean it would make sense right? Giant explosion boom, no more cover.

Then again, I used to think that fighter planes could mow down infantry because all my education came from hollywood movies.

Prepare the bombardment!

Yahooo! Entrenchment is down to single digits and its time to liberate our boys in the 44th

Godspeed, gentlemen:

Success!

Sorry i couldn't capture the battlescreen, I was too excited. This DC:CB is tense (and good.

Ok, now for Operation Get the Eff out of that spearhead.

Unfortunately, Operation GTFO is stymied by a disease called lack of movement points. I do strategic transfers for some of the 44th. We're not out of the woods yet as this spearhead is still surrounded by nasty Russians just waiting to kill us.

As so we must think of a good defensive plan that combines making sure the 44th still has an exit route, but a way to give the soviets a punch in the nose so they think twice about attacking that lone unit... hmm

I decide that i will take out the 270th and the AT unit, and then move my 297th to secure the area around Chugulev, since they have very big angry stacks there and we need to form up some sort of line again to protect the city.

Arty the 270th:

Airstrike:

Attack:

There was a tank division that was near the town (the 24th) that bothered me. I decided to punch their nose a bit.

But they had flak

Anywho, after a bunch of movements, this is what we end up with:

Note that I think this line is shaky at best. I even tried to blow the bridge to town. I failed. *shakes fist at Schultz*

Now onto the south, or what I like to call, feel good time for me because I get to attack and kill and drink out of soviet skulls for what they did to me in the middle

The first attack I make is against the 335th. The idea being that I want to encircle Izium and take the Donetz.

The 384th does its job and we move up. What I really WANTED to do was block that railline, but alas, movement points.

Next up we're going to tighten these lines up.. Dear god what was I thinking when i first started this scenario.

Anyway, we're now going to attack the 3/3 regiment of the 333rd. That was the 2/3 regiment or whatever is encircled and can be ignored.

Arty party! (not shown, took the wrong pic)

Attack: [image] http://i.imgur.com/P7Wcv8g.jpg [/image] They panic because they see my bulging muscles Everything is going according to plan (I make these plans up on the fly, which is why i'm the worst general.)

Lets move up a bit:

And then attack some more.

I am going to attack the 106 because it provides favorable panzer ground as opposed to their 333rd since its mountainous.

We end up with something like this in the South. This is fine. Izium will soon be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

Now up north. I don't even know what the Soviets are doing up North.. which probably means I should recon next turn.

They abandoned their positions, to help with the middle and south.. I think. All i'm going to do here is move around a bit

And with that, the movement is done.

Here is the map at the end of my turn

Here is the map at the end of the Soviets turn:

Fun fact: I don't think i've ever had a turn atfter the soviets have gone when I don't say "Goddammit"

I'd be looking at stopping the Soviet 23rd tank corps in its tracks by using my divebombers on it this turn, you have nothing there that can stop it amongst your ground forces. Maybe move up the Hungarian regiment and the Security regiment to close the gap and encircle it, although both those units will probably die the next turn.

You should be bale to release the 44th regiment again, but I wouldnt do any more attacks in the north of the salient. In the south of the salient I reckon you should only do 2-3 attacks maximum, aimed at cutting the road to disrupt the supply of the westernmost Soviet forces. One tactic you could also try would be to bomb the last remaining bridge over the Bereka (if you manage to cut the other road with your southern forces) as that will put all of the western Soviet forces in danger. To blow a bridge just use level bombers. To virtually guarantee success you need about 200 points worth of bombers. I very much doubt you have that left, so you would probably be attacking with something like 100 points with only a 50/50 chance of success. Possibly too big a risk, but something to consider.

I'd be looking at stopping the Soviet 23rd tank corps in its tracks by using my divebombers on it this turn, you have nothing there that can stop it amongst your ground forces. Maybe move up the Hungarian regiment and the Security regiment to close the gap and encircle it, although both those units will probably die the next turn.

You should be bale to release the 44th regiment again, but I wouldnt do any more attacks in the north of the salient. In the south of the salient I reckon you should only do 2-3 attacks maximum, aimed at cutting the road to disrupt the supply of the westernmost Soviet forces. One tactic you could also try would be to bomb the last remaining bridge over the Bereka (if you manage to cut the other road with your southern forces) as that will put all of the western Soviet forces in danger. To blow a bridge just use level bombers. To virtually guarantee success you need about 200 points worth of bombers. I very much doubt you have that left, so you would probably be attacking with something like 100 points with only a 50/50 chance of success. Possibly too big a risk, but something to consider.

I'll have to admit something. I cheated. I played through the rest of the scenario and it ended up as a draw because of my previous battleplan. I'm going to get a minor victory in my new battle plan. My VP points were 63 with the current one. I got caught up in killing units like an idiot instead of focusing on capturing towns., but yeah, that 44th is gonna die.

Anyway, i'll do the last couple of turns now so I can start doing video AARs since writing and capturing pics takes so much time I get exhausted at the end of the turn.

Oberst Heyhellowhatsnew had a dream last night... he was visited by the ghost of Hitler (who was not dead at the time) who told him that it's about the VPs, stupid. And then Hitler took out a device he called an iPad and showed Oberest HHW a motivational "youtube video"

In my excitement I only got the bombing. Sorry, anyway as you can see, we win the battle

Thank you Romania! We now have our 64th VP point. Now we must hold it for 2 turns. So lets make some moves to secure that.

I apply some pressure west of the town by attacking the 317th. The attack succeeds and we encircle any units that may cause any trouble in the south. No supply for you guys!

Right away you can see that my main trouble will come from the 411th, 317th, and the 6th army who will of course try to liberate that town. I need to bloody their nose a bit.

I had a screen cap of a very bloody battle for the 6th, but I lost it. Sorry :( But I got the punch I needed to make sure they wouldn't mess around with the town.

There is nothing I can do about the 317th right now, but lets see what I can do with the 411th

Not a good battle, but it was necessary to hurt them. This is what I end up with

It's the best I could do with what I have left unfortunately. I've played terrible all game. And as Donald Rumsfield once say, you "You go to war with the army you have---not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time."

Okay, still in the south, I want to pressure the right side of it too, just in case the AI gets coy. This is what is known as a "feint". I think. I just made it up, it's probably not really a feint.

I harass the 335th

I want the AI to think i'm still going for Izium. Is that possible? I wonder. Lets hope so.

Holy crap they hold. Note to self. YOU HAVE CARDS, USE THEM.

After some movements, the South now looks like this

Now about that middle

I don't know how to tell you this 1/3 44th... but you're going to have to sacrifice yourself for the reich. We will tell stories about your bravery.

As you can see, the issue is that I need to close that gap the Russians opened and play defense. I am satisfied with my points. Now we defend.

So, last night after I posted my last AAR post, I stared at the pictures for 15 minutes and knew what I had to do.

Cut off the 44th and bomb the tanks to hell.

"…to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee." (Please note this clever call back from a few AAR posts earlier ;)

Thats it for those tanks. I want to weaken them so they stay out of supply and not attack

Now my plan is to weaken any unit that might try to save them. I want to stop their advance and make them stay put. I bloody some noses some more

Our attacks have not been perfect (sorry I got too amped up playing the game and forgot to take screen caps), but they were necessary to throw off the soviets and make them think less about attacking.

Now onto the north:

I really don't care about the north. I make some arty attacks and thats it, just to throw them off. They aren't going to push. I do make note however that the next time I play this game, I should think about taking Woltschasnk.

I attack the 84th just to shrug them away.

Yes I attacked with Engineers. We are desperate at this point.

And this is how the north ends up.

I double check my defenses and get ready to pass the turn. This is how the board looks:

I take a deep breath, and hope it plays out how I want it to.

This is what the map looks like after the Soviets move:

They do exactly what I want them to do. They only commit to one battle. The pocket blobs up. The next turn is the last turn and we're going to play prevent defense on this one.

Well done enjoyed reading the AAR, hope it was a decent and fun learning experience. If I were you I would try the linked campaign next, it introduces quite a few more concepts into the game and the AI is again really good. There is an excellent AAR on it which you MUST read before playing each scenario. It is the very last AAR on this page IIRC. He really goes into a lot of detail about how he attacks and how he uses the cards, one of the best AARs on here.

Well done enjoyed reading the AAR, hope it was a decent and fun learning experience. If I were you I would try the linked campaign next, it introduces quite a few more concepts into the game and the AI is again really good. There is an excellent AAR on it which you MUST read before playing each scenario. It is the very last AAR on this page IIRC. He really goes into a lot of detail about how he attacks and how he uses the cards, one of the best AARs on here.

EDIT: 1st Panzer AAR by ComradeP, third from bottom.

Thank you very much. It was my First AAR. I hope it helps others learn from my mistakes. I certainly did learn a lot. I think new players should really do AARs, hell, everyone should do them. It was tough, but I as I wrote out my thoughts It really helped me grasp the game concept. I may not know everything now, but I know alot more. Vic, you've made an excellent game. Please provide more scenarios ;p and encourage AARs.